I will be traveling in northern Italy and Switzerland with family -- 9 people -- in early May. 4 adults and 5 youth ages 17, 19, 19, 20, 21.
We are unsure what is the best and most economical option for public transportation. We don't know if we should buy a swiss travel pass, berner oberland pass, individual passes or something else. I am not sure if some passes come free with our Air bnb rental??
We will be leaving from MPX (turning in a rental car that we will use in northern itlay) on May 13th. From MPX we will be headed to Lauterbrunnen Valley.
We are staying in Lauterbrunnen May 13 - May 16. We plan to spend our time in nearby surrounding towns (Murren, Interlaken, Grindelwald). We will head to Zurich on May 16th and fly home on May 17th.
Thanks for any advise
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11315 posts
Similar discussion here earlier today https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/switzerland/swiss-travel-pass-or-bernese-oberland-pass. My gut is that a combo of a Half Fare Card and a Berner Oberland Regional Pass (4 day) is your best bet.
Posted by
Green Bay
20085 posts
I am not sure if some passes come free with our Air bnb rental??
No way will there be any passes included with a rental, they're worth hundreds of Francs.
It all depends on what lifts you will take in the Berner Oberland. With 5 people under 25, the 4-ay Youth Swiss Travel Pass at 199 CHF each might be the way to go.
To get to Lauterbrunnen from Malpensa, it looks like the fastest way is with a bus to Domodossola, either the 11 am or the 1 pm bus. You have to reserve this at https://www.comazzialibus.com/ComazziAlibus/
Domodossola is considered a Swiss border station, so people with passes are free from that point to Lauterbrunnen. I understand that there is a sale coming up on Swiss Travel Passes starting April 15. You get one bonus day when you buy a 4-day pass. That would be a slight benefit on May 17 going to the airport.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32746 posts
I guess if they included a transportation pass they would emphasise it in their listing. It would be a valuable benefit.
Posted by
2 posts
I’m doing the same this summer and taking the train. It’s pretty straightforward. Since it’s Italy to Switzerland the passes you mention wouldn’t apply for that journey. Personally I am combining a eurail pass I got on sale with the Berner Oberland pass for my days in that area. There are multiple rail options, and you might try downloading the Swiss SBB app or the easy to browse with eurail app which I believe is called railapp or something like that.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
For our time in Italy, we found a car rental to more economically suite our needs and itinerary. Eurail seems to only make sense if we were using a lot of public transportation in Italy as well. It does look like the 4 day Swiss Travel Pass will be our best option for our time in Switzerland. From what I can tell, it looks like we can buy a single train ticket from Milan to Domodossola. Then from Domodossola, we can use the Swiss Travel Pass to get to Lauterbrunnen included with the pass.
Thanks for all the feedback.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11315 posts
It does look like the 4 day Swiss Travel Pass will be our best option for our time in Switzerland
Note that all lifts will be at half price with the STP whereas with a Berner Oberland Regional Pass they are included except for the Schilthorn and the Jungfraujoch above Eigergletscher. So you will have out-of-pocket expenses beyond the STP.
Posted by
Green Bay
20085 posts
I should add that with the Berner Oberland Pass, it now also includes the train from Domodossolo, however, you cannot use the "fast" way to Spiez that uses the Loetschberg Base Tunnel, but must use the older route that goes partially over the mountains and uses the shorter old Loetschberg Tunnel. It is a bit slower, but much more scenic.